Toilet system

ABSTRACT

The invention refers to a toilet system ( 1 ) comprising at least one toilet unit ( 2 ) having a device ( 3 ) for macerating and transportation of waste together with flush-water, so-called blackwater ( 4 ) to a holding-tank ( 6 ), and a combustion chamber ( 8 ) with economizer connectable directly or indirectly via a transportation-tank to said holding-tank ( 6 ), in said combustion chamber ( 8 ) the blackwater is incinerated.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a toilet system wherein an incinerationof collected urine and faeces takes place in a separate combustionchamber thereby providing a greater user capacity of the toilet system.

In the market there are today a number of different types of toiletswithout connection to the public sewage-system, which have differentsolutions of collecting devices for urine and faeces. Many of thesetoilets have proved to be constructed in a most complicated way and arealso expensive with a high operating cost. It has also proved to becomplicated to carry out a simple and odor free discharging of thecontents when needed and in those cases that the toilet is of a kindwhere incineration of the faeces takes place, it has been difficult toaccomplish an efficient and economical incineration.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to eliminate these problems andto provide a new type of toilet included in a toilet system having aseparate combustion chamber. The distinguishing features of theinvention are stated in the following claims.

In accordance with the invention a toilet system has now been providedwith one in the same included combustion chamber, which in an excellentway fulfills its purpose at the same time as the system also isrelatively inexpensive and easy to manufacture. The toilet systemaccording to the invention is almost odor free due to its ingeniousstructure and during discharging only a certain amount of ashes needs tobe removed from the combustion chamber of the incinerator, which is doneby a few simple manual operations by releasing of a simply dismountableclean-out door at the top of the combustion chamber, after which theashes are simply removed by, for example, vacuuming the bottom of thecombustion chamber. From the toilet-unit comes, after a maceratingprocedure, while adding water so called “blackwater” or sewage, whereall solids are finely-cut in a relatively homogenous solution consistingof urine, faeces and flush water. By a special circulation of flue gasesin the combustion chamber those combustion gases that are generatedduring the incineration and vaporization of the blackwater canefficiently be removed through a special outlet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is described below with reference to a preferableembodiment and with reference to the drawings enclosed, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of the toilet system according to theinvention that is controlled by a microprocessor;

FIG. 2 shows a view from above of the combustion chamber;

FIG. 3 shows a side view of the combustion chamber in section and fromwhich view is seen how the bottom of the combustion chamber is designed;

FIG. 4 shows a part view of the bottom of the combustion chamber, thatconsists of a wave-profile where flue gases pass under the bottom of thecombustion chamber in the wave-peak and how a sensor is located at thebottom for controlling the incineration and vaporization underassistance of a microprocessor;

FIG. 5 shows a side view partly in section of the combustion chamberillustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 and from which view is seen how thefastener for a burner is designed and how the flue gases are fed fromthe combustion chamber and downwards below its bottom and further onthrough the flue gas channels through an outlet;

FIG. 6 shows an end view of the combustion chamber illustrated in FIGS.2-5 and from which view is seen how a flue gas shield is mounted inconnection to the flue gas channels in order to spread out the fluegases over the bottom of the combustion chamber;

FIG. 7 shows a view from the side in section of a ceramic lining, whichis used to insulate the combustion chamber; and

FIG. 8 shows a view from above of the lining of FIG. 7 of the combustionchamber.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

As shown in FIG. 1 is an embodiment of a toilet system according to thepresent invention, which mainly consists of three main parts namely atoilet unit 2, a holding-tank 6 and combustion chamber 8 witheconomizer. The toilet unit 2 is equipped with a device 3 for maceratingand transportation of the waste together with the flush water so calledblackwater 4 in a first pipe 5 to the holding-tank 6, which is directlyor indirectly connected via a transportation tank, not illustrated inthe drawings, to the combustion chamber 8 with the economizer via asecond pipe 7.

The device 3 for macerating the faeces and transportation of theblackwater 4 through the first pipe 5 to the holding-tank 6 comprises apump 9 with a macerator known per se and/or with vacuum and the secondpipe 7 is provided in this example with a dosage pump 10 fortransportation of the blackwater 4 to the combustion chamber 8, fromwhich the flue gases are fed out via its specially designed bottom 11through an outlet 14 to the atmosphere.

The combustion chamber 8 according to the invention is according to thepresented example designed to ensure a complete incineration of allsolids, faeces in the blackwater 4 that is dosed by the pump 9 to thecombustion chamber 8 from the holding tank 6 located upstream in thesystem. With its unique bottom design an incineration is achieved with ahigh efficiency and thereby a low fuel consumption. Also the size andweight of the combustion chamber 8 has been able to be limited becauseof the efficient utilization of the excess energy in the flue gases. Thebottom design of the combustion chamber 8 consists in that its bottom 11includes a wave-profile 12, where the flue gases are passing below theentire combustion chamber bottom 11 in wave peaks 13, which are sealeddownwards in order to constitute a number of parallel alongside runningflue gas channels 12′, through which the flue gases from theincineration pass and thereafter are guided out to the atmospherethrough the outlet 14. The flue gas channels 12′ are extending in theflow direction of the incineration gases at the same time as the excessof heat from the flue gases is brought back to the blackwater 4 locatedin the wave troughs 13′, thereby a larger bottom surface is obtained inthe combustion chamber 8 than otherwise, which in turn gives a higherefficiency.

By the design of the bottom 11 of the combustion chamber 8, the wavetroughs 13′ constituted by the wave profiles 12 consist of a number ofnext to each other and all across the bottom extending V-formations 15for receiving the blackwater 4. By this design the excess heat in theflue gases are brought back to the blackwater 4, which is located in thewave troughs 13′ at a flange-efficiency of 100%. In order to secure thatthe heat transfer is performed in a uniform way all across thecombustion chamber bottom 11, a flue gas shield 16 is mounted at the endof the flue gas channels 12′. This causes a narrowing at the center ofthe bottom profile in order to force the flue gases to spread evenlyover the entire cross section and in this way cold spots are avoided andthe entire bottom surface is used efficiently.

A well known burner is mounted on a flange 17 directly on the top 18 ofthe combustion chamber 8 in such a way that the head of the burner isprotected from a direct impact from both the blackwater 4 during pumpingand also from vapor during the incineration process itself. The fluegases together with the vaporized blackwater 4 are fed out from thecombustion chamber 8 via an opening 19 at the top 20 of the rear wall20′ of the combustion chamber. In order to give the flue gases maximumduration in the combustion chamber 8, the burner can be mounted as faraway as possible from the flue gas opening 19. The opening 19 isdesigned in size after the capacity of the fan of the burner i.e. flowsand pressure. The flue gases are thereafter directed into a slot 21 atthe rear end of the combustion chamber 8 and under the bottom 11 of thecombustion chamber.

In making the emptying of the incineration chamber of the combustionchamber 8 easier without the need to disassemble the burner, the top 18of the combustion chamber 8 has been equipped with a simply dismountableclean-out door 22, through which the cleaning can be done by for examplevacuuming. The dimensions of the combustion chamber 8 are adjusted tothe output of the burner, which in its turn is determined by the numberof users or the number of connected toilets.

The system according to the invention shortly functions as follow. A lowflush toilet unit 2 macerates the waste at flushing and pumps the wasteto the holding-tank 6. The flush water comes either from the ordinarypressure water system alternatively from a separate closed pressurewater system, connected to the toilet. The holding-tank 6 will containso called blackwater 4, where all solids are finely-cut in a relativelyhomogenous solution. The holding-tank 6 is designed to contain one totwo days maximum usage of the toilet unit 2 and the holding-tank 6 canbe located anywhere it is suitable from a space point of view. There isno demand to locate the holding-tank 6 in close connection to neitherthe toilet unit 2 nor the combustion chamber 8.

At the outlet side of the holding-tank 6 an ordinary membrane pump canbe used for transportation of the blackwater to the combustion chamber.The membrane pump is extremely reliable and totally insensitive toclogging and, at the same time, it operates under high pressure. Thecombustion chamber 8 is heated by a top mounted burner. Burner outputand size of the combustion chamber can vary and is designed after thenumber of users of the toilet unit and the number of connected toilets.The entire process is electronically controlled and supervised by amicroprocessor 23.

The incineration of the blackwater 4 from the holding-tank 6 isprogrammed to take place preferably at night-time but can be chosen totake place at optional occasion alternatively when the tank is full.When incineration has been started by clock or alternatively a fulltank, the microprocessor 23 gives a signal to the pump to run for apredetermined number of seconds and to pump in a first controlled amountof blackwater to the combustion chamber 8. The burner starts andoperates thereafter continuously without interruption during the entireincineration. When the fluid level has decreased to the top of thewave-profile 12 of the bottom 11, a new signal is given to the pump,which pumps a second amount of blackwater into the combustion chamber 8.The vaporization goes on continuously at a constant speed and when thefluid level once again has decreased to the top of the wave-profile 12,a new signal is given to the pump for the third amount of blackwater andso on.

These dosages continue until the holding-tank 6 is empty. At this timethe microprocessor 23 gives a signal to start the final incineration.This is done in order to secure a complete incineration of all solids,mainly faeces. The temperature in the combustion chamber increases as nomore vaporization of fluids takes place and the time for finalincineration can be varied after operation conditions. The electricitysupply is adaptable to 12, 24 or alternatively 220 Volt. The remainsthat are received from the process are totally harmless. The ashes thatcan be vacuumed out of the combustion chamber a few times per year andthe emission to the surroundings through a chimney mounted at the outletodor pipe 14, consists, besides of flue gases from the burner, of 100%odor free vapor.

The control of the incineration and the vaporization of the blackwater 4in the combustion chamber 8 is made by continuous registration of thechange of temperature in the combustion chamber 8, which temperature ismeasured by a sensor 24 placed in a protective-casing 25, which ismounted in the combustion chamber 8. The location of this is of majorimportance in order to achieve a fast and careful registration of thevaporization. The sensor 24 is located on the same side as the fluegases leave the combustion chamber and is mounted directly on top of awave peak 13 as shown in FIG. 4. The sensor 24 is connected to themicroprocessor 23.

The principle for control is in accordance to the following. At start ofoperation a first fixed amount of blackwater 4 is pumped into thecombustion chamber 8 and this volume is exactly as much to fill all wavetroughs 13′ in the profile bottom and gives a fluid surface a fewmillimeters above the wave peaks 13. The sensor 24 is hereby located inthe blackwater and registers the fluid temperature. The burner startsand heats thereafter the blackwater 4 to 100° C., whereupon thevaporization is initiated.

When the fluid level has decreased to the wave peaks 13 the sensor 24 islocated in air and the temperature rises immediately. When thisregisters approximately 120° C. a new signal is given to the pump whichpumps a second fixed amount of blackwater 4 in to the combustion chamber8. The sensor 24 is once again located in the blackwater 4 and achievesthe same temperature as the blackwater has during the moment of pumping.The temperature of the fluid rises rapidly to 100° C., which value isregistered by the device 24. The temperature is registered in themicroprocessor 23 until the surface of the fluid once again hasdecreased to the wave peaks 13, whereupon the sensor 24 rapidlyregisters an increasing temperature.

When the temperature once again passes 120° C. a signal is given to thepump to pump a third fixed amount of blackwater 4 into the combustionchamber 8. The process is repeated until the holding-tank 6 is empty.The advantage with this control is that it always takes place a maximumheat transfer from the hot flue gases to the cold fluid (100° C.). Ifthe surface of the fluid is allowed to decrease under the wave peaks 13the heat transfer is reverted and the higher temperature in thecombustion chamber heats the flue gases while passing through the fluegas channels 12′ in the bottom 11. Hereby it is continuously securedduring the entire vaporization process that the flange-efficiency is100%.

When the holding-tank 6 is empty the process goes in to the finalincineration and a signal is given from the tank—tank empty—whereby nofurther signal is given to the pump. Instead the time starts for finalincineration which is pre-programmed according to actual operatingconditions and during this time all fluid is vaporized, whereby onlysolids as remaining faeces remain in the wave troughs 13′. These are nowexposed to both direct heat-radiation from the burner and to heat fromthe flue gases under the profile bottom. The temperature rises rapidlyand eventually remaining faeces are ignited and when the temperature hasreached a pre-set maximum level the burner is shut off. The time is setlong enough to secure a safe final incineration.

In FIGS. 7 and 8 an upside down ceramic box 26 is illustrated, which isintended to insulate the combustion chamber 8, causing its outside notto reach too high a temperature, which otherwise could cause injuries.Besides, the efficiency further increases due to the box 26 at the sametime as the temperature tensions in the non-corrosive combustion chamberare reduced. The box 26 is manufactured by for example aluminum oxide(Al₂O₃) or aluminum silica. The box results in a possibility to increasethe temperature in the combustion chamber without increased demand toincrease the thickness of the external insulation. When the righttemperature is obtained in the combustion chamber 8 and the vaporizationhas turned into a steady-state condition, the speed of vaporizationincreases considerably and the energy consumption is decreasedcorrespondingly. The increased vaporization is due to the heat storagecapacity that occurs in the aluminum oxide/aluminum silica. Thisincreased capacity is valuable mainly in those cases when the toiletsystem 1 is intended to be used by many users, resulting in a high load.

1. A toilet system comprising at least one toilet unit (2) having adevice (3) for macerating and transportation of waste together withblackwater (4) to a holding-tank (6), and a combustion chamber (8) witheconomizer connectable directly or indirectly via a transportation tankto said holding-tank (6), and wherein said combustion chamber (8) theblackwater is incinerated.
 2. A toilet system according to claim 1,wherein the device (3) for macerating and transportation of theblackwater (4) to the holding-tank (6) comprises a pump (9) having amacerator and that a dose-pump (10) is provided to transport theblackwater (4) from the holding-tank (6) to the combustion chamber (8).3. A toilet system according to claim 1, wherein control of theincineration and vaporization of the blackwater (4) in the combustionchamber (8) is achieved by a continuous registration of the change oftemperature in the combustion chamber (8), whereby the temperature ismeasured with a sensor (24) connected to a microprocessor (23), which isprovided in a protective casing (25), which protective casing is mountedin the combustion chamber (8).
 4. A toilet system according to claim 1,wherein the combustion chamber (8) includes a bottom (11) which consistsby a wave profile (12) closed downwards to create a number, ofadjacently extending flue gas channels (12′), which upwardly aredelimited by wave peaks (13) and through which flue-gases from theincineration pass in order to thereafter be fed out to the atmospherethrough an outlet-pipe (14), said flue gas channels (12′) extend in theflow direction of the flue gases at the same time as the excess heatfrom the flue gases is brought back to the blackwater (4) located in thewave troughs (13′) in providing a larger bottom surface area, whichresults in a higher efficiency.
 5. A toilet system according to claim 4,wherein the wave troughs (13′), formed by the wave profile (12) in thebottom (11) of the combustion chamber (8), consist of a number ofV-formations (15) extending next to each other along the bottom (11) inorder to contain the black-water (4),
 6. A toilet system according toclaim 4, wherein a flue gas shield (16) is provided at the end of theflue gas channels (12′) in order to obtain a uniform heat recoveryacross the bottom (11) of the combustion chamber (8).
 7. A toilet systemaccording to claim 1 wherein the combustion chamber (8) has anassembly-flange (17) for a burner mounted directly above the top (18) ofthe combustion chamber (8), said flange (17) extending into thecombustion chamber (8) a predetermined distance to protect a burner headof the burner from direct exposure from both the blackwater (4) andvapors during the incineration process.
 8. A toilet system according toclaim 3, wherein the sensor (24) in said protective casing (25) ismounted on the same side of the combustion chamber (8) as the flue gasesare fed out from the combustion area, and directly on top of a wave-peak(13).